Using no claims bonus on one car to renew on another car after claim...

jkodav

Hi,

We have 2 cars, let's refer to them as A and B. The insurance on both of these is now due for renewal (2 different insurance companies/policies).

One of us (not the main policy holder) had an accident with car A about a month ago, he was at fault, no damage to our car, minor damage to the other, no injuries. Our NCB for A has gone down from 6 years to 3 (not too bad). The renewal quote is now £500 versus £350 last year (understandably).

Car B is up for renewal, 6 years NCB, £250 to renew (it's an old car of no real value). However they haven't been informed of the accident with the other car/policy yet.

A couple of questions:

1/ Is it worth shopping around for insurance for car A, given the recent claim, or is it unlikely we'll get a lower quote because of the outstanding claim?

2/ Can we use the 6 years NCB from car B to help get a lower quote for A? Are NCBs 'transferable' in this way? If so, will this 'transfer' have an impact when renewing car B?

3/ Is the quote of £250 likely to increase significantly when we notify them of the claim on car A? The 6 year NCB on B won't be affected by the claim on car A, will it? If it does, is it worth shopping around, given that there is no claim against car B?

I would welcome any advice about getting the best deal when renewing both these insurances. We're not very savvy about car insurance. For the last couple of years we have used gocompare.

Thanks

Quentin

1) Always worth shopping round at renewal - you have the option of using a cashback site which can sometimes make a big difference to the renewal price.

2) You can transfer the cars between policies (at the cost of an admin fee if done mid term) to make sure the biggest NCD is being applied to the most expensive policy.

3) You can find out the impact the claim has on premiums by doing virtual quotes online (with and without the claim being declared). The NCD on car B's policy isn't affected by the claim made on the other policy. You do have to inform the insurers of car B about the incident (and probably are in breach of the policy terms if you have not already informed them of the incident).

prowla

You still have to declare the claim though.
(If you shop around and buy via Quidco/etc. you can save some cash.)

BlueFox

jkodav wrote: »

A couple of questions:

1/ Is it worth shopping around for insurance for car A, given the recent claim, or is it unlikely we'll get a lower quote because of the outstanding claim?

2/ Can we use the 6 years NCB from car B to help get a lower quote for A? Are NCBs 'transferable' in this way? If so, will this 'transfer' have an impact when renewing car B?

3/ Is the quote of £250 likely to increase significantly when we notify them of the claim on car A? The 6 year NCB on B won't be affected by the claim on car A, will it? If it does, is it worth shopping around, given that there is no claim against car B?

I would welcome any advice about getting the best deal when renewing both these insurances. We're not very savvy about car insurance. For the last couple of years we have used gocompare.

Thanks

1) As long as there were no injuries then there is no reason why you won't get a cheaper quote - Insurance companies take all the facts into account when quoting so a minor claim shouldn't make too much difference. But the reduced NCB will obviously affect the price.

2) The NCB is yours, not your cars. So at renewal you can use whatever NCB you wish to. Although it may make things easier & simpler if you were to change insurers if you wish to do this!

3) Your other NCB will NOT be affected by the accident. Only the NCB on the policy of the vehicle involved will be affected.

It is a good idea to use price comparison websites when your policy is due for renewal. GoCompare, MySupermarket & Confused.com are the ones I use.

shelly

I don't have much to add to what the others have said except maybe think about protecting car B's 6 years NCB. Too late now for car A but in the event of an accident in car B you will go down to 3 years (as you have found out) without protection. With protection you can have 2-3 claims in a 3-5 year period (depending on insurer)
This is transferable so don't worry about shopping around at next renewal time.

Also be aware that NCB protection protects the amount of discount taken from the premium. It doesn't protect the premium rising for whatever reason.

jkodav

Thanks, that's all very helpful.